“A CAREER INCUBATOR”
That brings up the all-important, albeit awkward, question: Do you believe the MBA is going to be worth it? Laura Botelho de Carvalho, a Brazilian consultant who chose to earn her MBA at Canada’s McGill Desautels, doesn’t downplay the risk. Students are “pausing” their careers for up to two years, costing them six figures in opportunity costs while braking their career momentum. Such decisions require conviction as much as courage. That said, the arguments against, Botelho de Carvalho asserts, miss the point of taking advantage of what she calls a “career incubator.”
“You are constantly challenging yourself, testing your limits – often out of your comfort zone – getting the most up-to-date information, networking and learning from people who have (very) diverse and impressive backgrounds. All of this effort and energy will lead you to be the best version of yourself, and the payoff will come naturally as a consequence of such large investment. Having said that, an MBA seems the perfect way to fast-track your career and help point you towards success.”
London Business School’s Nikki Gupta
LBS’ Nikki Gupta took a proactive approach to answering the ROI question. She pored over Linkedin profiles and reached out her target audience – Chiefs of Product at VC funded startups – to “plead for a 15 minute Skype call. Sure enough, Gupta came away with two priceless takeaways on the degree’s long-term value. “It was pretty clear that decades on, those that had the MBA had really benefitted from it in terms of career progression and being able to tap into a powerful network of alums,” she notes. “I knew I did not need one to get my next job, but it became clear that 10 years down the line I would have more opportunities if I did have an MBA.”
IT’S THE EXPERIENCE THAT MATTERS
It wasn’t just pay and position that MBA alums touted, adds Cornell Johnson’s Carlos Acevedo. “Every MBA alum I spoke with before applying to business school told me not to worry about the program costs. They shared that all my calculations would leave out the most important asset of the process, which includes the experience and memories, which are priceless.”
Is an MBA worth it for the Class of 2020? While students are early in their studies, Harvard Business School’s Marrone, believes the decision comes down to answering two questions – and summoning the courage to take action if both are answered “Yes”.
“I used a few questions to help. Do you value the two years at a given school over two years at your company (or any other immediately attainable job)? Do you think you can markedly improve your trajectory through the opportunities offered at a given school? If yes to both, then it is now up to you to take advantage of the opportunities and make the MBA experience worth it.
“Healthy pressure,” he adds.
COMING THIS FALL: We will profile a dozen MBAs from 40 of the top MBA programs in the world.
Class of 2020 Full-Time MBAs
| Student | School | Hometown | Alma Mater | Employer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ever Isaac Hernandez | Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | Boston, MA | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | Chevron |
| Grace Zimmerly | University of Chicago (Booth) | Waterford, PA | Yale University | New York / New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) |
| Halle Morse | Columbia Business School | Shaker Heights, OH | Cincinnati Conservatory of Music | American Repertory Theater |
| Thomas Stelle | Cornell University (Johnson) | Sag Harbor, NY | Trinity College | B&B Hospitality Group |
| Irina Titkova | Dartmouth College (Tuck) | Mogilev, Belarus | Brooklyn College | KPMG |
| Alexandra Herrera Flores | Duke University (Fuqua) | Lima, Peru | Universidad del Pacifico | Ligas Femeninas Futbol 7 |
| David R. Hinshillwood | Emory University (Goizueta) | Cherry Hill, NJ | Harvard University | PrepScholar, Inc. |
| Michael Cox | Georgetown University (McDonough) | Brooklyn, NY | Syracuse University | New York City Mayor’s Office |
| Daphne Pham | Harvard Business School | Hanoi, Vietnam | Mount Holyoke College | Uber |
| Chen Kossover | HEC Paris | Rishon LeZion, Israel | Tel Aviv University | Meitar Liquornik Geva Leshem Tal |
| Ali Almein | IESE | Shepparton, Australia | University of Melbourne | WaterNSW |
| Jasson Muir Clarke | Indiana University (Kelley) | San José, Costa Rica | University of Costa Rica | World Animal Protection |
| Andrea (Andi) Frkovich | London Business School | Dana Point, CA | Duke University | U.S. Navy |
| Laura Botelho de Carvalho | McGill (Desautels) | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | PUC Minas) | P3N Projetos Ambientais |
| Georgia Cassady | University of Michigan (Ross) | Enterprise, AL | Wake Forest University | Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility |
| Jaime Zorrilla Sánchez de Neyra | MIT (Sloan) | Madrid, Spain | Universidad Autonoma de Madrid | Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre |
| Maya Anderson | North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | Decatur, GA | Harvard University | Hodges-Mace |
| Braden Schrock | Northwestern University (Kellogg) | Farmington Hills, MI | University of Michigan | U.S. Navy |
| Nica Langinger | New York University (Stern) | Los Angeles, CA | Stanford University | Snapchat |
| Michael Wall | Notre Dame (Mendoza) | Scituate, MA | U.S. Military Academy | U.S. Army |
| Kory Li | Rice University (Jones) | Buffalo Grove, IL | Washington University (St. Louis) | Anheuser-Busch Inbev |
| Anson E. Fraser | University of Texas (McCombs) | Summit, NJ | University of Notre Dame | Envestnet |
| Sophia Duncan | University of Toronto (Rotman) | Newton, MA | Wesleyan University | Milton Community Youth Coalition |
| Katharine Hawthorne | U.C. Berkeley (Haas) | San Mateo, CA | Stanford University | Tiedemann Advisors |
| Amanda Sol Peralta | UCLA (Anderson) | Brooklyn, NY | Duke University | Jopwell |
| Tina Cook | USC (Marshall) | Los Angeles, CA | Northern Kentucky University | Chrysalis |
| Curtis Duke | Vanderbilt University (Owen) | Morristown, TN | Sewanee: The University of the South | U.S. Army |
| Carissa Sanchez | University of Virginia (Darden) | Three Points, AZ | Yale University | Arconic |
| Alexis Goodrich | University of Washington (Foster) | Mercer Island, WA | University of Southern California | Creative Market |
| Felicia Kola-Amodu | Washington University (Olin) | Ibadan, Nigeria | Bowen University | Enterprise Holdings |
| Julia Stock | Wharton School | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro | McKinsey & Company |
| Elizabeth Davidson | Yale SOM | Richmond, VA | College of William and Mary | Kiva |
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